St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1887-08-06

The trustees of the Spanish and Por
tuguese Congregation of Hebrews of thu
city of New York decided a few day.
ago to celebrate the anniversary of thu
expulsion of their ancestors from thei1
native lands. Letters will be issued tt
all the Hebrew congregations, orders anc
societies throughout the United States
and Canada, requesting that these bodies
tittingly celebrate the 40Oth anniversary
of an event that happened during the
year in which Columbus set sail and dis
covered America.
The story of the Jews in Spain and
Portugal is long and sad one to tell
Before the expulsion of the Jews from
Palestine by Titus, there was quite a
community of them gathered around
Rome and the principal cities of the
Roman empire. In Spain traders of that
race were numerous. With the over
throw of the Roman dominion in the
| East great numbers of that people fed to
the West, settling in Italy, Spain and
| Southern France, where they were eX-
! ceedingly prosperous and well-fayored,
until the reign of Charles the Bald Into
Spain they were shortly followed by the
conquering Arabs, who soon had the en-
tire peninsula under their control. The
Arabs at this time were a rude and
barbarous race and the Jews of Spain,
as almost everywhere else, an enlightened
ponplo Tbair ornia1
remarkably successful, to the great dis
may of their enemies. They could
read and write in an age when princes
and noblemen had to use sign. Con-
sequently they easily found themselves
in the highest confidential positions.
Charlemagne sent a Hebrew named
Isaac on two successive and sue
cessful missions to Haroun- al Raschid,
the Caliph of Bagdad.
More illiterate than any other people
of Europe at that time, the Arabs had
special recourse to the Jews, and they
were soon repaid. The Spanish PENN
sula soon became filled with seats of
learning and with universities, long be-
ASAS eAS ASol VI Au1opC' AC Jews -" ClC
physicians, professors, financiers, viziers
to the Arabian schools and Arabian king
doms. Their fame extended all over
Europe and scholars f1ocked from all
lands to read the philosophy of Aristo-
tie, to study the geometry of Euclid,
medicine, astronomy, algebra and al
chemy, the last two of which show their
Arabian origin. From the Moorish king
doms there proceeded also our present
numbers, and many other things too nu-
merous to mention.
Gradually, however, the Christians
who had been confined by the Moors to
the Pyrenee mountains began to push
down and drive before them the unhappy
Moors. By 1902 they were forever dis
possessed of the land they had helped to
make so lovely. With them some, but
not many, Jews departed. They re-
NAMED in the new Christian kingdoms,
protected by the sovereigns of Arragon
and CASTLE, and formed, according to
Dean Milman, rather an order than
a caste. Before the creation of the
Inquisition their peace was but once
disturbed. An invasion of Pedros do |
minions by his brother Henry was fol-
lowed by relentless persecution of the |
Jews. No quarter was given to either |
Moor or Jew. In Seville, on the advice |
of Bishop Martin, the people rose up
against them. Similar scenes were en-
acted at Cordova, Toledo, Valencia and
Majorca 1390-9O.
With the union of the two kingdoms |
of Arragon and CASTLE, and of their SOW
ereigns Ferdinand and Isabella, came the
overthrow of the privileges of Jewish
subjects.
Soon followed bull by Pope Sextus
w, empowering monarchs to nominate
the inquisitors to act as chief of the in
for a long while unwilling, while her
husband was Indifferent With peculiar
lack of tact there appeared just about
this time book by Jew, casting re-
Elections upon their Catholic majesties,
which was replied to by Ferdinand of
Talavera, who thus became very much
ldVOTtu. III 1foU TWO luuulsltOIS were
for Seville. The prison convent
and castle soon became too narrow for the
numbers to be tried The previous century
there were 100000 enforced and $4,000
voluntary conversions. These new
Christians or Chuetas as they were called
were always at heart Jews, and though
hey might attend church regularly and
have their children baptized, still they
observed in secret all the Jewish festi-
7als and circumcised their offspring.
These new Christians suffered more
through the Inquisition than the
Jews. There were, says one authority,
means of telling whether
he Chueta was hereto or not The
principal were, expecting the Messiah,
rust in the law of Moses, observance of
he Jewish Sabbath, of the dietary laws,
he festivals, rites of marriage, death
md circumcision, interring the dead
With their forefathers.
The "holy office" became SO severe that
he Pope was alarmed and wrote to
ISABELLA to restrain the inquisitors, and
or that purpose more were appointed to
ct as a check upon the others, and
Thomas de Torsuemada was sent over
" the Pope and placed at the head. In